Republican Byron Donalds won the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election on Tuesday, defeating Democrat David Jolly. Donalds will be sworn in in January 2027, taking over from two-term Governor Ron DeSantis. Financial records show Byron Donalds raised over ten times as much money for his campaign than David Jolly. As of September 30, Donalds was listed with $142,859,883 raised versus just $11,560,145 for Jolly. In that same figure, Donalds had more money not yet spent ($32,112,190) than Jolly had in his entire war chest. Byron Donalds has served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021. He represents Florida's 19th district, covering Fort Myers and the surrounding area. Prior to that, Donalds served four years in the Florida House of Representatives. With his Tuesday victory, Donalds has the distinction of being the first Black candidate elected Florida governor. He's also the first Black Republican to be elected governor in the history of the United States. Only three Black Democrats have won gubernatorial elections before: Douglas Wilder (Virginia, 1990), Deval Patrick (Massachusetts, 2006), and Wes Moore (Maryland, 2022). Two others, David Paterson (New York) and C.C. Antoine (Louisiana) were elevated from lieutenant governor but not elected. Donalds led in the vast majority of major polls over Jolly from immediately after the August 18 primary elections. On only a handful of occasions did Jolly pull even or poll slightly ahead of Donalds. Still, the race proved to be the first competitive gubernatorial election in Florida since 2018, when DeSantis narrowly defeated Democrat Andrew Gillum. With another gubernatorial victory for Florida Republicans, their party maintains a streak of control over the governor's mansion that dates back to 1999. Lawton Chiles was the last Democrat to be elected Florida governor, serving from 1991 until his death in 1998. Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay, also a Democrat, served the remainder of the term until January 1999. After that four Republicans have ruled the 21st century: Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist (now a Democrat), Rick Scott, and Ron DeSantis. Donalds' running-mate Bryan Avila is set to become lieutenant governor next year when the administration changes over. Avila is a member of the Florida Senate, representing part of Miami-Dade County in the 39th district. Interestingly, Florida's 2026 gubernatorial election consisted of two candidates who each switched from the other major party earlier in their lives. Byron Donalds has been a Republican since 2010, and was a Democrat before that. David Jolly, a former Republican congressman, became an Independent in 2018, joined Andrew Yang's startup Forward Party in 2022, and then became a Democrat in 2025.
